As for THZ1's MIDI, I don't even make MIDIs anymore so I suspect it probably won't be changed at all (but I could be wrong). Whoever made the digital version clearly decided to divert from the MIDI a fair bit, it's also got some synth pads the MIDI doesn't have. =P

The only Big sprites that were made are the ones you see. The WAD we used to make those screenshots contains precisely two sprites, the diagonal sprite was used for everything but idling, which used the fishing sprite.

Sorry to crush your dreams, but it was an AFD joke through and through =P

* Smiles does not currently have swimming sprites, but DOES have swimming states such that she can get them in a future patch without too much hassle.

* Sadly, development standards do not lean in favour of easter eggs. I implemented one, but had to disable it when it was discovered. If you've got a keen eye, you'll probably be able to find the #IFDEF'd remnants of it in the code - but it won't be accessible in release builds (and doesn't bode well for other fun non-main-game stuff we could do at some point).

The only Big sprites that were made are the ones you see. The WAD we used to make those screenshots contains precisely two sprites, the diagonal sprite was used for everything but idling, which used the fishing sprite.

Sorry to crush your dreams, but it was an AFD joke through and through =P

To be honest, I kinda like the darker sky better. I don't know exactly why, I gues it just make the level feel more... colorful? Nostalgic, maybe? I don't know. But basically, I think the darker blue sky should be restored because the bright sky just looks too bright and doesn't really look the best.

About Tailsmiles having swim sprites... That would either look very weird when another player latches on (which isn't too uncommon in singleplayer with Sonic & Tails when wanting to reach somewhere, I think), look very weird when noone latches on, or require multiple sets of sprites, for swimming with and without a player latched on.

And with sprites for a player having latched on, that would either result in some probably-weird-looking swimming, or not being able to swim upwards while carrying someone. (For reference, the latter is the case in Sonic 3.)

I'm unsure which of these I would prefer, but that's probably mostly because of the whole "change is bad" mentality thing people (including me) probably have, as Tails currently just remains in the flying animation underwater, so that's what I'm used to.

Actually, Tails can pick up someone in sonic 3 in the water, he just can't swim after he does so.

So are we gonna think this works like in Sonic 4 Episode 2? In said game, Tails is able to carry Sonic AND swim whilst doing so. Sure it's the modern designs, but it's the closest I could find to what we currently have.

So are we gonna think this works like in Sonic 4 Episode 2? In said game, Tails is able to carry Sonic AND swim whilst doing so. Sure it's the modern designs, but it's the closest I could find to what we currently have.

Seems like a neat idea to me. Wouldn't even need that many new sprites; just edit the tails off of the flying sprites and add the ones from the running sprites. Plus rotations, that gives us a total of 30-48 sprites.
Assuming we add a second frame, doing it Sonic 3 style would require 10-16 sprites. If we only do one frame for Sonic 3 style, it's only 5-8. Since the game already works like it does in Sonic 4 E2, I'd assume we'd be going for that sprite number.

Actually, Tails can pick up someone in sonic 3 in the water, he just can't swim after he does so.

Yeah, this. You had to use Tails less as a carry and more as a series of handlebars, constantly jumping and latching on with Sonic as Tails ascended to the point where you could get out of the water and fly normally.